Red Sun Rising
by The Seventh Sister
Summary: Post Breaking Dawn. The Volturi have gone and the Cullens are finally safe - or so they think. As Edward and Bella adjust to their life together, a new threat emerges, stronger than anything the Cullens have faced before.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I am not Stephanie Meyer

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The last beams of sunlight retreated across the ancient stone bricks of the Piazza dei Piori. Twilight was always an interesting time of day in Volterra. The departure of the sun instilled a sort of calm over the ancient hilltop town - the children, for the most part, had returned home to savor in the combined pleasure of a home-cooked meal and a loving mother. Street vendors had begun to apathetically close up shop - packing away their worthless knick knacks for more tourists to peruse tomorrow. Oblivious to everything else, a young couple crossed the cobblestones hand in hand, walking lazily as if to preserve the moment.

Such sights were not abnormal, especially in this small, picturesque European town. Everything about Volterra was romantic - the ancient architecture, the cadantic language, the rich air filled with the fragrance of the Italian countryside. In this aspect then, Volterra was like any other Italian city. Another spot on the traveler's map, another place from which to send a postcard. Engrossed in the charm of the city, Volterra's many visitors, and citizens for that matter, failed to notice the most important aspect of the place - the trait which made it different from any other city in the world.

It always interested Aro to find that the people of Volterra never seemed to notice the complete lack of animal life in their city. It was so peculiarly strange of them to not notice the nuisance which was a staple in every other city - birds squawking noisily in the sky, alley cats slinking about in search of food and affection, even mosquitoes buzzing in and around homes and restaurants. It was inconceivable to him that people could be so unobservant - but then again, he thought, they were just humans.

Humans, though unobservant, had come to be extremely proud creatures. Aro had seen this in his many centuries on this earth. He had watched the eras of men come and go - the sorrow and dreariness of the plagues of the Middle Ages, the splendor and enlightenment of the Renaissance, the knowledge and ambition of these most recent, technologically-driven years. Despite the so called "advancement" of men however, the race had lost, in Aro's opinion, its most important sense. The instinct to survive.

Pride at their accomplishments and achievements had instilled a false sense of security in these humans. Hubris, the Romans had called it. They were of the opinion that there was no obstacle too great, no enemy too fierce, that it could not be vanquished with their precious technology. Fear was a scorned emotion - after all, what had the great race of men to fear? They had conquered all else - disease, warfare, even religion. The human race was the end of the line, the pinnacle of evolution - to fear was to be irrational. Or so they thought.

With this incessant pride, the humans had lost that instinct which the animals still possess. Well, not lost it, exactly, but simply refused to acknowledge it. The animal creatures were right, of course, to avoid the ancient city. They sensed the underlying danger there, as the humans did. Unlike the humans however, the animals did not ignore it. The instinct to survive overruled all other senses for the animals, and so there were none left in Volterra. The humans, however, were not so smart. Aro knew that they too sensed the danger in the city. He could see it in the widening of their eyes as they passed him in the piazza. He could sense it in the heightening of their pulses as they hurried along the hilltop's many dark passageways. Underneath their proud facades, the humans too sensed the danger of this place - though they, of course, would never admit it.

In fact, regarding the matter of the humans remaining in Volterra, Aro hardly knew what to be most impressed by - their bravery or their stupidity.

Rare was the occasion that Aro actually ventured outside of the Volturi lair into the city. Many years had passed since Volterra's charms had held any significant amusement for him. His pursuits had become largely intellectual over time. In fact, he had surrounded himself with one of the largest collections of books in the world - second only to the collection of the Catholic Church contained within the Vatican libraries. Soon, he would surpass even them, he mused. A trivial thought, to be sure, but then again it was these small victories which burned like torches in the eternal monotony of his existence.

Nowadays, the only reason that Aro could possibly have for venturing out of the tower would be to hunt - but he had acquired people to do that for him. Truth be told, it seemed as if there was an almost endless parade of humans being delivered right into his very hands. The hunt could be exhilarating of course, but even this small thrill had eventually failed to amuse him. No, his journey out into the city tonight had been instigated by an entirely different motive - escape.

In the weeks since their return from America, the atmosphere within the Volturi base had changed noticeably. One did not need to be a vampire to perceive this recent alteration. In fact, Aro had never felt more uneasy amongst his fellow Volturi than he had since that increasingly-significant visit with his friend, Carlisle, and the rest of the Cullen clan. It was not that Aro regretted the decision he had made there - no, he could not have brought harm to the child Renesmee. Of that he was certain. He had long since grown impatient with such things as emotions, however even he could not deny that the child had charmed him.

She was not the monster that he had originally expected - one of the immortal children. No, she was quite unique, one of a kind in fact, and he would not have believed it he had not seen her mind himself. Aro had experienced the thoughts of the child, and after seeing the emotion there, the familial love for her mother and father, it was more than obvious that the child was part human. And though he could smell the blood coursing through her veins, he knew that he could not destroy the child, as he had destroyed countless other humans. The same uniqueness that had made him believe that she was different was the same uniqueness that made him sure that he could not harm her. And that, ultimately, was his biggest problem.

He had never been known as the most compassionate of leaders. It was not that he was ruthless, however he had always done what was necessary to retain power. It was this power which had attracted most of his followers - contrary to popular belief, he did not "collect" those who served in his army. Most of the time, they came to him willingly. After all, why not join the Volturi? There was no greater draw than to be a part of the most dangerous, and most powerful organization in the world. Or at least, what _was_ the most powerful organization in the world.

Aro could see the doubt in the eyes of his followers - Jane, Alec, Felix, even Caius and Marcus. Permitting the existence of the child Renesmee was not simply a matter of saving her life. He knew in his own mind that his decision was the right one, but to everyone else, it was only a sign of debilitating weakness. To stay in power, you had to be respected, of course, but most of all you had to be feared. He had allowed the Cullen clan to grow in both size and power, and for this he was perceived weak. But Aro knew Carlisle, he knew him as a friend, and he could not believe that Carlisle and his family would actually threaten the authority of the Volturi. With this same certainty, however he knew that the others were not so convinced.

The meeting between the Volturi and the Cullens had raised tension on both sides. Though no fight had actually erupted, this, in a way, had only made the tension worse. Aro could feel the pressure mounting around him, the pressure to act, the hunger for battle that had only increased in the days since their return to Italy. The others did not see what he saw in the child's mind - they could not see it. They did not have the same conviction that his decision to leave the Cullens intact was right. To them, the very existence of another clan that size, a clan that had demonstrated its ability to gain even more allies, was a threat in and of itself. And just as he knew that his decision was the right one, he knew that if he did not act against the Cullens himself, it was only a matter of time before someone else did.

What was he willing to do to remain in power? He knew what retaining his power would require, and it was not something which could be done halfway - he would have to destroy all of the Cullens. For even one or two of them to remain was dangerous - Marcus had seen how strong the bonds which ran between them were. It would take no time at all for any survivors to raise up an army of allies to avenge the fallen, and after seeing the extent of their powers, Aro was certain that they would put up a good fight. No, all of the Cullens would have to be destroyed, and their fiercest allies along with them. The thought sickened Aro. Though he gave no consequence to emotions, vampires were known for being very steady creatures, and his friendship with Carlisle had remained constant for some 500 years. Seeing harm brought to Carlisle was one of the last things that Aro wanted.

But what was the alternative? The conflict between the Volturi and the Cullens was by no means immediate, but Aro knew that every day that he did not act was another day that his allies considered acting themselves. The Cullens and the Volturi could not peacefully coexist much longer. The Volturi would act against the Cullens eventually, he was sure, but the question was whether or not he himself would be a part of it. He knew that the others, Marcus and Caius, would not go so far as to kill him if he refused to make a move. Loyalty was stronger than some things, after all. But he would either have to step aside himself, and relinquish his power within the Volturi, or be forced out. Far from sickening, this thought was completely foreign to Aro. He, Marcus, and Caius had created the first, real authoritative body in their world, and they had ruled it ever since. What would it be like to give up this power? Could he even imagine it? In truth, he could not. He could not imagine what it would be like to cede his power, and he did not want to. No, he had worked too long, and done too much over his centuries-long reign - he _was _power. He would not give it up.

As he walked, deep in thought, he realized that the sky had not just been getting darker, but the air more electric. In the piazza, the bell in the clock tower began to toll, ushering in the approaching night. Here too, outside in the city, he sensed a different pressure mounting, a tension in the atmosphere that was also careening towards a breaking point. He snapped his crimson eyes up just as the first bolt of lightning struck, splitting into the clock tower with unearthly force, cutting off the sound of the bell mid-toll. He knew what he had to do.

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Bella had been hoping to make this rare trip into town relatively uneventful. Really she shouldn't have even been doing this at all; she was not technically "allowed" out and about in Forks quite yet. Ever since her transformation early last fall, she and the rest of the Cullens had decided that it would be best for everyone if she did not go about parading the "new" her in front of the entire town. She looked the same, of course, in the obvious things like height and hair color, but even she had to admit that she had acquired a certain "something" since becoming a vampire - the type of something that made most of the men in town, or most men anywhere, forget to breathe as she walked by.

Bella was sure that if she had had any blood left in her body, she would have blushed just thinking that. She'd been a vampire for less than a year after all - not quite long enough to realize that she was no longer the awkward girl who tripped over every obstacle within a 10 mile radius. The thought of her tripping over anything now was laughable really, but she was still that Bella in her mind. She wondered if any of the other Cullens ever felt that way, like their old human selves. Somehow she doubted that Rosalie had ever considered herself anything less than the most beautiful creature alive.

Pulling into the one gas station in town, she was relieved to see that there were no other cars there. She already knew that there wouldn't be of course - her heightened sense of smell combined with the fact that it was 5'o'clock in the morning had assured her that she could get away with a quick stop. She was a bit anxious nonetheless, and moved a little faster than she ought to have upon hopping out of the car. She quickly swiped her credit card, one of what was a seemingly endless supply, and began fueling.

It may seem a bit strange that she should even need to refuel her car at 5 in the morning at all, but she had surprisingly acquired the passion that the rest of the Cullens had for driving. As a human, she had never really thought of driving as anything more than a way to get from point A to point B. But ever since her transformation, driving had become an entirely new experience. Suddenly aware that she was never in danger of crashing into anything, Bella had found that speeding through the Washington mountains at more than 100mph could be a very exhilarating experience. Plus, you had a lot of free time on your hands when you didn't need to sleep.

Deep in thought, it took her longer than it should have to pick up on the sound of tires coming closer. She whipped her head around to look at the approaching vehicle - a beat up old Toyota - and sure enough the scent of human blood filled her nostrils. She wasn't worried about losing control to her more natural instincts - in fact, she had thankfully never really had to worry about keeping in check. At 8 months old in vampire terms, she was technically still a "newborn"; yet she had just as much, if not more, self-control than the rest of her family. Not the most ostentatious of talents, but extremely useful nonetheless.

She considered leaving prematurely and having someone else fill her tank later, but she had just started fueling and, assessing the sky, she noted that there was adequate cloud coverage. She was also wearing a rather large pair of black sunglasses - unnecessary, of course, but they made for a quick disguise and Alice had insisted she start accessorizing. As the car pulled up on the other side of the single pump, she decided to just take her chances and hope that she didn't know whoever the driver was. Bad call.

Mike Newton slammed the door of the car that was apparently his and walked around toward the pump. Bella inwardly cursed at herself for taking this unnecessary risk, and immediately removed the nozzle to begin screwing the cap back on her gas tank. Luckily, with the pump between them, he wouldn't see her unless he suddenly decided to walk around the barrier. She might just be able to make a quick escape. With her hand on the door handle, though, she heard a low whistle behind her.

"Wow. That is some car. I've never seen anyone around here driving something like that. Mind if I check it out?"

She grimaced. Damn Mike Newton and his earnestness.

"Actually I'm in a bit of a rush". For the first time, she cursed the melodic sound of her new and improved voice.

But he was already at the front of the car, leaning down near the headlights to inspect the Ferrari logo on the bumper. Well, she could just run him over, she mused. Though she thought she knew someone who might be a little upset - apparently he and Jessica were still dating.

He straightened up suddenly and looked at her for the first time. She could tell that it was meant to just be a quick glance, but as soon as he caught sight of her in her skinny jeans, form fitting leather jacket, and dark sunglasses, his jaw dropped. At least, she hoped, he would probably figure it was some stranger from out of town. But today was just not her day.

"_Bella?!_" He nearly shouted, his mouth still agape in disbelief.

"What…uh…How did you know it was me?" She thought that it was also the first time she had stuttered since her transformation.

Apparently just as nervous as she was, he turned beet red and looked down at her wrist. "Um…well…it's just that you always wore that bracelet".

She glanced down at the silver bracelet she had worn every day for the past 2 years. It was rather noticeable she supposed, with its two unique charms - the tiny, wood figurine that Jacob had given her, and the dazzling heart-shaped gemstone that Edward had added later. She still hadn't gotten him to admit that it was in fact a very expensive diamond.

She looked up at Mike again, and all of a sudden the image of him sheepishly standing there was almost heart-breakingly endearing. She had known, of course, that Mike had had a bit of a crush on her at one point, but it took a little more than that for a boy to start noticing a girl's accessories. She sighed and realized that she couldn't just jump in her car and speed away at this point.

"Yeah, it is me. It's been forever, huh?" She laughed lightly and smiled, hoping to ease the tension and make him a little more comfortable. Bad idea, she realized again, as her smile seemed to just overwhelm him more. He took a deep breath and started coughing, as if he had tried to swallow but nearly choked on his own saliva. She couldn't help but feel for him again - this was pretty much exactly how she felt the first time she had spoken to Edward.

"Yeah, I, um, thought that you had like…moved to Alaska or something…with Edward." He managed to choke out, his face growing even more red in the aftermath of his embarrassing coughing fit.

This was the story that everyone in town, except for Charlie of course, had been told by the rest of the Cullens. Since she couldn't come into town, and obviously her daughter Renesmee couldn't either, Edward had also been avoiding Forks to give off the impression that the newly-married couple had moved away.

"Oh yeah, you're right. We ended up deciding to start school together up there. We're just back to visit…for Easter." She remembered, conveniently, that the holiday was just three days away. This seemed like an adequate enough explanation.

"Oh, Easter, yeah. I bet you're glad to see your Dad and….everyone again." He shifted back and forth, nervously putting his weight on one foot then the other.

She shouldn't make this go on much longer, she decided. He had clearly already suffered enough, and she didn't want to push her luck. She smiled again, but very gently this time, and responded.

"It can be hard to be so far from both of our families, but we decided we wanted a fresh start…you know, change of scenery." She laughed lightly again. "I actually wasn't kidding about being in a rush though. You probably know that the Cullens are really into camping - I was just picking something up since we're supposed to head out this morning." They actually were supposed to go out this morning - hunting, though, not camping. She smiled inwardly.

"Oh right…yea, well, in-laws. You gotta do what you gotta do I guess." He chuckled nervously, and she tried to keep her smile from getting wider. She hadn't ever once thought of the Cullens as her "in-laws".

"Totally." She said warmly, as she opened the black door of her sleek Ferrari. "It was really good seeing you though. Maybe we'll run into each other again soon." She hoped beyond all else that this didn't end up happening.

"Yea…yea definitely. I guess I should get out of your way then." He anxiously took a couple of steps to the side, so that he was no longer standing directly in front of the bumper. He ended up tripping over the divider between the two cars, but recovered quickly and tried to pretend as if it hadn't happened. "Nice car again, by the way."

She only continued to smile in response, and quickly turned the keys with her foot already on the accelerator. The car whipped out of the parking lot, and she banged a left and peeled away toward the woods. Not the most subtle exit she could have made, she realized, but she just wanted to get away as quickly as possible.

She had just created a very unnecessary, and potentially problematic, situation. She was so furious with herself for ever stopping. Apparently good judgment was not one of the new skills that came with being a vampire. In her anger, she pushed the gas pedal under her foot all the way down to the floor of the vehicle.

Less than a minute later, she had made the turn which led up to the magnificent house in the woods. Speeding into the driveway, she saw that Edward was waiting there for her, his lips curved upward in a slight smile. She glowered at him through the windshield, threw her door open, and was standing in front of him in what seemed like the same moment.

"Alice?" She asked, in a deadpan voice.

"Yea, she saw what happened after you made your very impromptu decision." Annoyingly, his smile only seemed to grow upon seeing how angry she was. Well, at least _he _wasn't angry, she reasoned.

"Really Bella, if you were that desperate to see Mike Newton again, I'm sure we could have found a better way."

Her arm whipped into him with such force that the garage wall literally shook around them as he collided with it. As she knew he would though, he landed on his feet, in an almost cat-like stance. He roared with laughter as she turned her back on him and stalked off toward the house. She realized that any further attempts at violence on her part would only amuse him more.

"Honestly I'm sure it could still work out between you two! I happen to personally know how much he liked you in that leather jacket!"

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I really hope that everyone enjoyed this first installment! Whether or not I continue really depends on the response I get from this, so please review and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Again, I am not Stephanie Meyer

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Sigh. Well that didn't last very long, I mused. Then again, I was never mad at Edward for very long.

Edward. I turned my head slightly to look over at him. The sight of him really was something I thought I could never fully prepare myself for. Though they had been married nearly a year, and together for longer, it was like I was seeing him for the first time, every time. He lay next to me, his strong, pale legs tangled in the pure, white sheets of their expansive bed. From the waist up, he lay entirely exposed, his chest white and glistening in the rays of sunlight that snuck in through the open windows. My eyes roamed up his body to his bronze-tinged head, his tousled hair slightly wild across the satin white pillow underneath. His eyes were closed, his long black eyelashes standing in stark contrast to the almost porcelain brilliance of his eyelids, yet his lips were turned upward in a slight smile, as if he were enjoying his own private joke.

Sensing my gaze on him, he turned toward me again, our bodies entwined amongst the mess of sheets. I stretched toward him as well, running my fingertips up his arms and across his broad, pale shoulders before finally crossing my arms tightly around his neck. As we came to face each other, he kept his eyes closed, the same smile splayed across his unnaturally beautiful face.

"If you're going to mention Mike Newton again, you shouldn't expect any more of this," I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively, "for a week." Even as I spoke the words, I knew that neither of us believed them. I would be lucky to get through one hour without touching Edward, let alone one week.

He chuckled lightly as he dipped his face toward mine, and begin tracing my features with his lips, lightly kissing each of my eyelids, the shape of my jaw line, and eventually my mouth. I responded enthusiastically, as I always did, parting my own lips and breathing in his scent, splaying my hands across the powerful muscles of his back. Though I was no longer human, these moments had not ceased to have a head-rush inducing affect on me. The only difference was that now I could actually enjoy the moment, rather than passing out, for example, as I had in the past.

He began to bite lightly on my lower lip, and, in an effort to get even closer to him, I shifted so that I was now lying on top of him, the warm skin of our bodies fused together in as many places as possible. I cupped one hand under his jaw, holding his face to mine, as he continued kissing me fiercely. As I placed my other hand on the satin like smoothness of his chest, he broke his lips from mine and maneuvered slightly, so that our faces were now several inches apart. I was about to protest, but before I could utter a word he had gently but deliberately tipped my head upward so that he could place his lips on the underside of my own jaw, his lips trailing downward until his tongue finally found the hollow at the base of my throat.

I inhaled sharply, my own eyes fluttering closed in pleasure, the fingernails of my left hand curling into the skin of his chest. Spurred on by my reaction, he flipped us again, so that his weight was now on me. With one hand tangled in my hair, and another gripping the curve of my hip, he seemed to be trying to meld our bodies together, his own breathing accelerating as he kept his head underneath mine, now kissing the curve of my clavicle. I threw my head back even further, arching my back so that I was driving my body upward to meet his lips, which were now tracing a line down the center of my chest, toward my navel.

I had always thought Emmet was kidding when he said that he and Rosalie literally did not leave the bedroom in their first year together. Well, perhaps not kidding entirely, but at least exaggerating a bit. I knew now that he was not. Nothing could distract me from this moment. At least, I thought nothing could.

"JESUS, EMMETT! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Emmett? Edward moved so quickly that for a very brief moment I was stunned, not knowing exactly what was going on. He still lay above me, but his face was now level with mine, the sheets pulled tightly around us both. He was no longer looking at me though, his face was turned upward toward the glass doors at the back of the room which opened onto our small, private garden.

Taking in his furious expression, I threw my head all the way back so that I too was looking toward the garden. Even upside down, there was no mistaking the bulk of my new brother standing between the open doors, a huge grin spread wide across his face.

"And here I thought you two spent all of your time reading Chaucer and playing backgammon."

"EMMETT!" I shrieked, shaking with fury. "GET OUT!" My still red eyes burned crimson in his direction.

"Sheesh I was only trying to deliver a message." He raised his hands defensively, still smiling. "Though I guess I should know better than to mess with the lady of the house. There's still a dent in the garage wall by the way."

"We have a front door, you know!" Edward yelled again. "You could have knocked!"

"I tried! And I know it's not like you can't hear that, so I figured you guys were out hunting or something. I just came back here to make sure. Now I realize that you were just…distracted."

I jerked against Edward's body, preparing to leap toward Emmett and throttle him. Edward felt me tense under him, and he looked down at me sharply, his golden eyes annoyed. As soon as he saw my expression however, and realized what I was planning to do, his eyes quickly softened and he raised one eyebrow in amusement.

Oh right, I remembered, I'm not wearing any clothes.

I sighed and looked back up at Emmett. "Well what then?! What did you come to tell us?"

"On second thought, maybe I should just leave and let you two get back to business," his grin, impossibly, only seemed to grow wider. "Lord knows you have a lot of work to do if you want to catch up with Rosalie and I."

"EMMETT!"

"Fine fine. Carlisle thinks we all should talk after what happened yesterday. You know…plan our next move," he said, relaxing and putting his hands in his pockets. "He figured we could all meet up at the house in about an hour."

I sighed again and returned my gaze to Edward's face. We knew we would have to have this discussion eventually.

He looked down at me too, his eyes soft, and he turned the corner of his mouth up in a reassuring smile. "Fine," he snapped, lifting his eyes up again to stare hardly at Emmett, though I knew he wasn't really angry anymore. "We'll get ready and get Nessie up. We'll meet you up there soon. Now please get out of our bedroom."

Emmett just laughed in response before turning away and whizzing out of sight on his way back up to the house.

"I'd say that we could put locks on our doors, but we both know that wouldn't work" Edward whispered in my ear and laughed lightly, attempting to break the tension.

I couldn't help but smile in return as I looked back at him, relaxing under the warmth of his bemused gaze. I reached up to kiss his lips, before sighing and leaning back to look at him again as his arms wrapped around me and under my back.

"Well I suppose we better get up then. Nessie will be awake soon anyway," I said, though no part of me wanted to move away from him. No sooner were the words out of my mouth, however, than I heard a cry from the next room.

"Mommy!" Our daughter's delicate voice sounded from down the hall. Edward chuckled softly and leaned down to kiss my neck one last time before rolling to the side.

"I think she has a special sense," he smiled, and stretched briefly before rolling to get out of bed. I watched him go as he walked toward the massive closet to get dressed.

Everything about her is special, I thought to myself. Not wanting to delay in getting to her, I quickly grabbed a bathrobe lying on the floor nearby and wrapped it around myself. I padded out the door and down the hall, stopping at the door closest to the living room.

Though Esme hadn't had time to prepare the room in time for Nessie's rather sudden arrival, she and Alice were determined to get started on it as soon as the excitement of the Volturi conflict had died down. Edward, however, had graciously but forcefully demanded that they let it alone, as he insisted on decorating the room himself.

The pale wooden floors had already been in place, but my heart melted as I remembered Edward sitting in here for days - painting the walls their current, sky blue color, crafting a beautiful crib, and not long after, a small bed, out of light pine wood, seeking out the perfect arrangement of dolls and toys and positioning them just so.

Renesmee had spent relatively little time sleeping in her own bed for those first few months. Mostly, I mused, because everyone had been so reluctant to put her down. But I vividly remembered the day that Edward had decided to "unveil" Nessie's new room to her, carrying her in on his shoulders before setting her down to explore and look for herself.

Renesmee, mature and curious as she was, had walked around and inspected each thing closely, as if she knew how hard her father had worked on it for her. As she finished her tour, she had walked back toward Edward, who was kneeling in the middle of the floor with anxious eyes to watch as she explored. I smiled as I remembered the way that Nessie had reached up to touch Edward's face with her hands, saying "Daddy", as she used her gift to show her father how she was feeling.

I didn't know what she showed him, of course, but I would always remember the look in his eyes as he looked back at her. If my heart had still beat, I was sure that it would have stopped in that moment as I saw the emotion in his eyes and the love which flowed between my husband and daughter. I remembered that, for once, I had been thankful for the Cullens' extreme generosity - Alice had given me a digital camera soon after Nessie's birth to capture every moment of her growing up, and I had luckily been holding it ready for the moment of the big unveiling. That moment between Edward and Renesmee was now captured forever; the photograph hung in a beautiful frame right above her bed.

I walked over to the bed now, where Nessie was laying on her side with her deep brown eyes open, watching me approach.

"Mommy" she said again as I knelt down next to her, scooping her up in my arms to walk around the room with her. In our usual tradition, she put one hand on each of my cheeks to show me what she had dreamed of last night - I saw balloons, a parade of exotic animals, a man walking across a rope some 50 feet in the air - the circus. Nessie smiled at me when she was done - Edward and I would have to take her the next time the circus came to Seattle.

Though she was technically just over 8 months old, our daughter definitely could have passed for a 3-year-old at this point. She stood about 2 and a half feet tall, and was now walking and talking just as well as most grown adults. I knew that soon, much sooner than I would have liked, she would grow too big for me to hold like this. But, she was special, I reminded myself again - and I wouldn't have her any other way.

I would not have believed that such a wonderful creature could exist if I hadn't known exactly where she had come from. The only thing that convinced me that Renesmee was truly real was just how much of Edward she saw in their daughter. There was no mistaking her origins, a child so beautiful could only have come from one man.

I carried her over to the beautifully-carved wardrobe in the corner and let her pick out her own clothes, something she now insisted on doing herself. She picked out a little deep-blue dress with a white collar and white buttons down the middle, with tiny blue Mary Jane shoes to match.

I couldn't help but laugh - at 8 months old, my daughter had more fashion sense that I would probably ever have. Alice's influence, I supposed.

By the time Nessie had dressed herself, with a little help from me, Edward had finished dressing himself and was now walking into the room as well.

"Daddy!" Nessie exclaimed and raced towards him, jumping into his already open arms. He smiled widely and cradled her in his arms, kissing her on the forehead.

"Good morning, my love. And what did we dream of last night?" He continue smiling as she went through the same ritual with him, pressing her small hands to his face and looking up at him expectantly.

"The circus, hmm? One day soon, sweetheart," He promised, and then looked over her head at me to wink.

I smiled back - knowing Edward, he had probably already bought surprise tickets to the circus just in case.

"Well let's get you breakfast then," he turned toward the door with Nessie still in his arms and headed off toward the kitchen. Unlike the two of us, Nessie still had her meal times. She ate mostly human food, but we did give her small amounts of animal blood as well to satisfy the other aspect of her appetite.

I followed them into the hallway, but turned back toward out bedroom instead of following them into the kitchen. It was my turn to get dressed for the day, and so walked through the double doors of the huge closet to put something together. I looked around at the endless walls of clothing - I still hadn't even had the chance to look at most of the things in here, let alone wear them. Although, even Alice had to admit, I was getting better at dressing myself.

I decided to humor her today, and ended up putting on a casual, light green dress with a pair of practical yet fashionable brown boots. I walked back toward the kitchen where Nessie was just finishing up with her bowl of Lucky Charms.

I had to laugh at little at this. Edward had insisted for a while on making elaborate breakfasts for her - buffets of pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit and toast - but every morning without fail she insisted on cereal. It was her favorite, after all. He had tried to coax her into trying something else, something with more nutritive qualities, perhaps, but she was very stubborn and he couldn't deny her anything, so Lucky Charms it was.

"Are we ready to go then?" I asked, clearing Nessie's bowl off the table and dumping it into the sink. Edward had already lifted Nessie out of her chair and was holding her in one arm, reaching out to take my hand with his free one as we walked toward the door together.

"Mommy are we going to see Jacob now?" Nessie asked, turning to look at me hopefully.

I sighed. "I'm sure he'll be there honey, whether we invite him or not."

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Again, please review! I'd love to hear your feedback and I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Again, I'm still not Stephanie Meyer

Enjoy and please remember to review!

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It took no more than 30 seconds for the three of us to reach the main house. Nessie clapped and squealed in appreciation at the end of our run - she loved the feel of streaking through the forest. She was a lot braver than I had originally been, I thought to myself.

Edward placed her down on the ground and she raced forward through the front door, scampering up the stairs faster and more gracefully than any toddler ought to have been able. No matter how fast we ran, somehow it was never fast enough for her in her excitement to see the rest of the family.

The two of us laughed lightly at her enthusiasm, and, hand in hand, we followed our daughter up the stairs and into the main room of the house.

Nearly everyone was already in place waiting for us. Carlisle was sitting in a chair near the window, engrossed in the latest copy of a medicine journal which he subscribed to.

Esme stood close by, arranging a collection of flowers that she'd no doubt gone out and collected herself that morning. She had told me once, when I was still human, that spring was her favorite time of year in Forks because of the scent of freshly-bloomed flowers. At the time I had appreciated flowers just as much as the next girl, but now I truly understood what she meant - the mix of floral scents was intoxicating with a vampire's sense of smell.

Alice and Jasper lounged on one of the long black couches - Jasper with his head in Alice's lap. As we entered, Alice looked up and watched us approach. I could see her eyes automatically assess what I was wearing, and I seemed to get her seal of approval. She caught my gaze and smirked, to which I only rolled my eyes in response.

Nessie had already situated herself in the arms of her favorite aunt. Rosalie was walking around the room with her, looking down at her niece adoringly and humming softly while Renesmee nestled herself into Rosalie's shoulder.

"Where's Emmett?" I asked, noting that he wasn't in the room. "He was in such a rush to get us here, after all."

"He's down in the garage, straightening out that dent that you made yesterday when you used Edward as a throw-toy." Rosalie answered smugly, looking up from her reverie. "Next time you should take it outside - if you had put so much as a scratch on my car…"

"You and Bella in a catfight? Now that I would like to see!" Emmett, apparently, had graced us with his presence.

"I wouldn't be so quick to joke, big brother. We both know that Bella could take you any day." Edward was quick to retort back, and with that Emmett immediately sobered up.

He seemed to take it as a direct insult to his manliness that he was no longer the strongest vampire in the house. I knew that the extra strength that I currently possessed as a newborn would fade eventually, but I still took advantage of every opportunity to remind him that I was stronger. As it happened, he offered these opportunities to me willingly - he'd been challenging me to an arm-wrestling match nearly every day for the past several months, waiting for the day that my extra strength wore off. I had a feeling that he'd be waiting at least a few more months.

"Mommy, why did you hit Daddy?" Nessie yelled from Rosalie's arms. Rather than looking upset, she looked merely curious and disappointed that she hadn't been there. Like Edward, she seemed to find my temper highly amusing, and loved those occasions where I happened to get carried away.

Edward turned toward me and raised his eyebrows. "Because, sweetheart, your Daddy sometimes doesn't know when to stop talking." I only returned his amused gaze, a smile now playing across my own lips.

"Bad Daddy!" Nessie admonished from across the room, a humorously serious look upon her angel-like face. She definitely had her fair share of daddy-girl moments, but luckily for me she nearly always sided with mommy.

Everyone in the room laughed in response, and Emmett walked over to take Nessie out of Rosalie's arms. "You tell him!" he said, as he began tossing her into the air, a bit higher than I would have liked.

"Careful!" Rosalie and I warned simultaneously.

"Ooooh, she's fine. She's practically invincible. You guys worry too much." Emmett only tossed her higher, as Nessie's escalating squeals of laughter relayed how much she was enjoying this.

I sighed but allowed Edward to pull me down on the couch next to him. He put his arm around my shoulder and kissed my temple in a calming gesture.

"Well, let's get this party started then, shall we?" he asked, as Carlisle closed his journal to come and sit closer to us. The others, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett also walked over to join Alice, Jasper, Edward and I on the 3 black couches which formed a U in the center of the room.

"Right, well Bella as you probably know Alice already filled the rest of us in on your meeting with Mike Newton yesterday," Carlisle began, and I lowered my eyes in embarrassment. Why had I been so stupid?

"No, no - it's nothing we need to be very concerned about," he continued gently, and looked at me with his kind eyes. I glanced over at Rosalie sitting across from me - as much as Nessie's arrival had brought us together, she did not seem to agree with Carlisle's assessment of my little blunder.

"Really, you didn't reveal anything important - you did the best you could have in that situation. All Mike Newton knows is that you look a bit different, and he'll probably just chalk that up to the Alaskan air agreeing with you." He smiled at me reassuringly, and I couldn't help but give him a small smile in return - Carlisle always knew the right thing to say.

I looked around at the others and was relieved to see that all of them, apart from Rosalie perhaps, seemed to agree with Carlisle's opinion. Emmett, I noted, didn't even seem concerned enough to listen - he was busy making silly faces at Nessie, who was now sitting on his lap.

"It's true, Bella. You really shouldn't beat yourself up over it. It's not as if he could know that you're not human anymore - like Carlisle said, the most he could tell anyone is that you look a little different. And I told you those sunglasses would come in handy, by the way." Alice spoke up as well, smugly adding that last point.

Jasper nodded in agreement from Alice's side, and I really did begin to feel better. I couldn't tell if this was a result of their reassuring words, or Jasper's tampering a bit with my mood.

"Exactly." Carlisle turned from Alice and back toward Edward and I. "This doesn't have to mean anything. We don't have to act now. I just thought this might be a useful opportunity to start discussing our options."

"I don't understand, what kind of options?" I asked, not entirely sure where he was going with this.

"Well, we could move again, sweetheart." Edward said softly, turning in my direction to gauge my reaction. I looked back at him blankly, and then tore me eyes away to look at the faces of the rest of my family. Emmett, at last, was looking up, paying attention to the conversation.

"But, you guys just moved back here a few years ago," I began, a bit flustered. "I wouldn't want you to move again, over something like this." I couldn't imagine asking them to uproot their lives again, just because of my silly encounter with Mike Newton. I thought of how inconvenient it would be for everyone, finding a suitable place for us to start over.

Aside from that, I didn't want to move. I thought of our beautiful little cottage in the middle of the clearing, and the way it felt like home more than any other place I'd ever been. I thought of my father, Charlie, living just a 10 minute drive away, always looking forward to our frequent visits. We were the only family he had. Lastly, I thought of Jacob - he was a part of this family now too. And as much as I knew it would devastate him, I cared more for Nessie's reaction to being away from her best friend. Begrudgingly, I knew that she loved him just as much as her other family members, and I couldn't cause her that unnecessary pain.

"We wouldn't do anything we didn't all want to do, Bella." Carlisle began again, leaning forward to speak to me more earnestly. "That's why we're having this discussion, so everyone can talk about it and say what they think."

"I for one wouldn't mind moving again," Emmett boomed from across the room. "Small-town life is a bore - let's go somewhere where there's more action."

"What, like Vegas? You'd love that, I'm sure. Hate to break it to you though honey - not a cloud in the sky." Rosalie retorted back, reaching over to take Nessie out of his arms.

Emmett didn't seem fazed - he merely inched closer to her and threw his burly arm across her shoulder. "You know I wouldn't trade you for all of the showgirls in Vegas, babe."

She rolled her sea-blue eyes, but didn't protest as he moved in to plant a big smooch on her cheek. Nessie giggled a bit in Rosalie's arms.

"I'm not taking about Vegas here," Carlisle glanced at Emmet sternly, but continued. "We all know we have options - we've lived in Alaska before, we could go to the East Coast, Maine or New Hampshire. We don't even have to stay in the country if we don't want to."

"I love New England," Alice sighed, looking out the window dreamily. "The leaves are so pretty in the fall."

I looked at her wistful face, but I wasn't convinced. I still wasn't sure why we were even having this discussion. "I just don't see why any of you would want to move right now."

"Well, if you think about it, it's not the worst time," Edward chimed in from beside me. "I mean we've all graduated from high school already, and, as much as you think it's unnecessary, the rest of us had been talking about maybe going to college again."

I looked at him suspiciously. Edward had insisted on my going to college while I was still human, and it looked as if this was something he was not going to give up on easily.

"No really, Bella, it's been coming up more and more lately," Alice jumped in, sensing my uncertainty. "We've been in a bit of a slump since we all graduated - we have to have something to fill our days, and it's not as if we're going to go get jobs somewhere in town."

Rosalie scrunched her face in disgust at the mere mention of the word "job", as Alice went on. "I've only got 3 college degrees so far, and Jasper two - if we're going to start up again we might as well go somewhere completely new."

I found myself briefly curious about what degrees Jasper would have gone to school for, before doubt filled my thoughts again and I turned back toward Carlisle.

"But what about you? Carlisle, you just started back at the Forks hospital a few years ago - you could get away with at least another 5 years there. And Esme," I said, turning toward the woman who was now like a mother to me. "I know how much you love this house, and living here. This is your home, I wouldn't want you to leave."

She smiled warmly at me in return and shook her head. "No, Bella, my home is wherever my family is, and you've brought more love to this family than I could have ever hoped for." She glanced down at Edward's hand, intertwined with mine on his lap, and then briefly over at Renesmee, who was nestling peacefully in Rosalie's arms. "It truly doesn't matter to me where we are, as long as we're together."

Well, they all knew exactly what to say to make me feel better at least. I knew for sure now that none of them were particularly concerned about the situation with Mike Newton. Rather, they seemed almost glad that the occasion to talk about moving again had come up. But there was still one, rather large problem.

"But I don't want to move," I admitted softly. I looked down at my hand intertwined with Edward's, and I felt him squeeze my fingers reassuringly. I felt selfish for saying it, since everyone else seemed so excited about the idea, but continued on anyway.

"I love our home here, and I couldn't leave Charlie - he depends on us being here," I looked over at Nessie, dozing softly at this point, her small chest rising and falling with her shallow breaths. "Plus there's the Jacob factor to consider," I gained confidence as I looked at my daughter, thinking about her reaction to the move. "She loves him just as much as any of us…and I couldn't do that to him either."

I felt Edward's hand tense in mine at the mention of Jacob, but when he spoke, it was with a gentle, reasoning voice. "I know you worry about leaving Charlie, Bella, but you wouldn't be leaving him alone," he reminded, and I knew he was right there. Charlie and Sue Clearwater had spent a lot of time together in the past year, bonding over the dramatic changes in their children's lives. Leah and Seth Clearwater had become wolves just before I had undergone my own transformation into a vampire. Over time, the friendship between their parents had become something more, and honestly I couldn't remember a time when my father had been happier.

"As for the Jacob factor," Edward continued, "I don't think we could stop him from following us wherever we went, even if we tried."

"He is, unfortunately, right there." Rosalie said, with a hint of disgust in her voice. She and Jacob had kept up their little feud, though I knew they had secretly grown to like each other, or at least stand each other.

I tried one more time. "But why do we even have to go now? I don't want to leave Forks…" I was whispering as I spoke now. Forks was my home. It was where my real life had begun - it was where I met Edward.

He sighed next to me, and turned my head upward so that I was looking into his face. His warm, amber eyes held mine, calming me with just his gaze as he leaned down to briefly kiss me on the tip of my nose and then my lips. I immediately felt better in his embrace, and he pecked me one more time before leaning back again to speak to the group.

"But you don't really even live in Forks anymore, Bella - you can't. You haven't been into town in months because we can't have people noticing how different you are. You can't even do a simple thing like stop for gas without feeling anxious."

I opened my mouth in protest, to tell him that I was perfectly happy being with him and Nessie all day in our fairy-tale cottage, but he cut me off.

"And I know what you're going to say. I know you're going to convince us all how happy you are, and I don't doubt that. But you can't live like this forever, love. I want you to be able to live as normally as possible. I want you to have those experiences that you haven't had yet - like going to college for example, or moving away from home. They're still important landmarks, even if you aren't human anymore, and I think it would be best for you if you experienced them."

I frowned slightly, and looked away from him, back at Nessie. As much as I hated to admit it, a part of me knew that he was right - it would make a lot of sense for us to go somewhere where no one knew me, so that I could actually leave the house every once in a while. Still, I felt myself trying to come up with more excuses.

"But what about Nessie?" I said still looking at our daughter. I doubted she'd want to leave, and besides, it would be hard for her to go unnoticed wherever we went. What with her growing so rapidly, she would attract attention anywhere, in Forks or outside of it.

"I know that it's going to be difficult wherever we go, but if you think about it, it'd be easier for her to go under the radar somewhere else." Alice spoke up again. "Forks is such a small town - people were talking about you coming for weeks before you even showed up!" She laughed lightly in remembrance, and went on. "If we were to relocate somewhere a little bigger, with more people, it would be easier for us to camouflage her. With so many people around, why would anyone look twice at her?"

"She's right Bella," Rosalie, who had been watching Nessie sleep in her arms, looked up again to speak to me. "She's going to resent being stuck in that house eventually - she's already beginning to get restless. If we moved to a bigger city, we could at least move her around from school to school before people noticed that she was different. We could try to give her a childhood that's at least semi-normal."

I didn't think the words would have had the same affect coming from anyone else. I knew that Rosalie, in particular, was only thinking about what was best for Nessie, and I also knew that she wouldn't hold anything back because she was worried about my feelings. I stared into her eyes, earnest and intent, looking back at me, and then finally dropped my gaze back to my daughter.

They were all right. It was really best for everyone if we moved on. I slowly looked around at my family, locking eyes with everyone in the room, before finally turning back to Edward who was attempting to gauge my reaction to Rosalie's speech. I nodded almost imperceptibly, to which he responded with his devastating lopsided smile. I took a deep breath, looking back into his ocher eyes, and all of sudden I knew that it was going to be ok. As long as we were together, it was always ok. I turned to address the rest of the room.

"Well where to then?"

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Thanks for reading everyone! Again, whether or not I continue really depends on reader response, so please remember to review! These first few chapters have been an intro of sorts - the next chapters are a lot more action-filled, so stay tuned!


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